A Study of Superstitious Rituals as Predictors of Competitive State Anxiety Among Male and Female Collegiate Athletes

Superstitious rituals are commonly practiced to manage emotions and cope with uncertainty during competitions. These behaviors could affect competitive state anxiety, but evidence regarding the impact among collegiate athletes remains inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate whether superstitious rituals were associated with competitive state anxiety in collegiate athletes and to compare differences between genders.

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 138 collegiate athletes (98 men and 40 women) completed the Superstitious Rituals Questionnaire and the Revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 approximately 60 minutes before competition. Correlations between superstitious ritual factors and competitive state anxiety components were analyzed by using Pearson correlation, and predictive contributions to competitive state anxiety were determined by multiple regression. Gender differences were tested by One-way multivariate analysis of variance.

Somatic anxiety was significantly associated with clothing and appearance, prayer, and coach factors (r = 0.20 - 025; p < 0.05). Cognitive anxiety was significantly associated with team rituals, prayer, and coach factors (r = 0.18 - 0.83; p < 0.05). Self-confidence was significantly correlated with pre-game routines, game-day rituals, team rituals, prayer, and coach factors (r = 0.18 - 0.32; p < 0.05). Somatic anxiety was mainly influenced by coach factor (6% prediction), while cognitive anxiety and self-confidence could be predicted by team rituals factor (3% and 9%, respectively). Comparison analyses showed a significant difference only in the clothing and appearance factor (p < 0.05), with higher scores in males than females.

These findings indicate that although superstitious rituals demonstrate limited overall predictive strength, certain ritual dimensions related to team processes and coaching involvement may play a functional psychological role by supporting emotional regulation and enhancing self-confidence in competitive settings.

While superstitious rituals showed minimal overall influence on competitive state anxiety, specific factors were differentially associated with anxiety components and confidence. The observed patterns were largely consistent across genders, suggesting shared coping mechanisms among collegiate athletes.